DNAinfo has the follow up on last week's Central Harlem Community Board 10 meeting concerning the new $100 million Harlem Children's Zone charter school that will break ground this year at a housing project on West 129th Street. Geoffrey Canada, HCZ founder and CEO, made an appearance to talk to a group of residents from the St. Nicholas Houses who have opposed the project since its announcement early in the year. Initially, there were reports of resistance against a charter school being set up but residents now understand that the children at the immediate housing project will have a priority in the new school. The lottery process in the past would accept children from other areas and to have priority is something that's hard to contest over.Now the main complaint lies in opening up a dead end cul-de-sac and restoring the flow of West 129th Street, between ACP/7th Avenue and FDB/8th Avenue. Critics are concerned of lost of open space, increase traffic and private takeover of public land. Mr. Canada mentioned he would consider not having the planned restoration of traffic on 129th street but at the same time, a school this large would probably be required by the city to have the open street for children to enter and leave safely.
NYCHA officials were also on hand to explain that they basically didn't have any funds for the maintenance of public housing and that this was a creative partnership where everyone would benefit. Read more in DNAinfo: LINK
It was stated from the beginning resident children would be given priority.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just Monday morning cranky but come on people--you're living in a housing project. Get over yourselves.
Either the admission process is a fair and random lottery or neighborhood kids will get priorty.
ReplyDeleteNot both.
The concepts are mutually exclusive.
Just because Project folks are poor doesn't mean that they are dumb.
How does "we are building a school that your kid has about a 1 in 1000 chance of getting in" sound like a good deal?
Vic, the “Project folks” get first priority. That’s a damn good deal and all but an eventual ticket OUT of the projects.
ReplyDeleteYou CAN be poor and dumb.
Vic Vega: It's not rocket science. You can very easily design a lottery process does both of these things -- you just reserve a certain number of seats for a first round lottery that includes only locals. Then you hold round 2 with everyone (possibly also including those locals whose names were not drawn at the outset).
ReplyDeleteIt's great that the St. Nicholas kids get priority but they should be really grateful. There is no legal reason they have to be given priority. NYHA owns the land and is in need of money so that they can continue to subsidize those people living in the projects. I think it is unreasonable for the people in the projects to be making any demands regarding use of the available land for educational purposes. There are equally needy people near that project who want access to HCZ for their children.
ReplyDeleteThe sense of entitlement among many project denizens truly is amazing. The City owns the land, not the people who pay a pittance to rent tax-payer subsidized public housing. They should not be the ones to dictate land-use for property they do not even own.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty much a bleeding heart liberal on social issues but I gotta go with UptownGirl on this.
ReplyDeleteCool it, UptownGirl. Making folks in the projects feel they've even less of a stake in the land on which they live--making them feel even less entitled to respect as residents of Harlem--will only lead to increasing resentment and alienation on their part, sentiments which have plagued public housing uptown since its inception.
ReplyDeleteBetter to convince the neighbors that this is good for everybody: it'll bring educational opportunities and increase the appeal of the neighborhood for commercial development. Jobs and safer streets will follow, and they'll be the prime beneficiaries.
I'm always amazed at some of these debates (and these comments are not that heated).
ReplyDeleteIts a school, run by possibly the most visionary, successful, and awesome educator of the current age (can you tell I'm a fan...).
A school right in the middle of place where people have been 'dumped' for the last 60 years. A school run by someone who cares, with people who care (or else they'll be fired). There is NOTHING better that could use this land. Nothing.
Its like - people want a carpark, or a supermarket? Geez.
Everybody in the neighborhood gets to have a voice in community board meetings even if they don’t own last I checked.
ReplyDeleteI must be the only person here who ISN’T a fan of Charter Schools as a concept.
Even if Canada’s is the best out of the bunch, saying Charter Schools is a solution to the problems of our educational system is like saying 20 lifeboats fixes the Titanic.
It’s an elitist solution to a populist problem (which might explain a lot come to think of it).
I’m not allied with the teachers or the teachers union in any way. I just don’t see how sectioning off smaller numbers of kids and giving those sections more resources solves any of the larger issues.
Vic
ReplyDeleteJust for the record, I agree with you. Charter schools are not a solution to our education problem.
However, given that no one in government is doing anything about the problem, I have no problems with letting some folks outside the government try to help.
Even if they can only give better opportunities to a smaller number of kids, that is still more kids better off than under the current education system.
I think of charter schools as a short term solution to a major, major problem. I think it is totally unfair that a child’s future is decided by lottery (see the movie Waiting for Superman). But at least some children can get a better education now and not in the next generation.
ReplyDeleteAnd apart from being free from the restrictions imposed by the UFT one of the real components of charter schools is parent participation and responsibility, something sadly lacking in many public schools.
If you look at the area in which the charter school will be built. How many children live in those projects and how many realistic slots will be available to these children? Remember that HCZ already has children and a waiting list for those available slots, HCZ also has children in other public schools waiting for this space so I doubt that there will be that many more vacant slots available to the children in those projects. Yes the city owns the land and yes the city will do what it needs to do. I wonder how much Control Mr. Canada will have over the finally construction of that space and if that space will open up a street threw that area. Just like the MTA they have these open community forums and have made their decision along time ago. I am not a fan of Charter Schools, I've seen what goes on in many of these schools first hand. Parents in those projects better have a plan B and C to where they are trying to put their children and not rely on how their children is going to get into HCZ.
ReplyDeleteEven if the children from the St Nicholas houses were given zero advantage in acceptance to HCZ the school should be built. There should be no cap on Charter Schools and if they can be placed within the area needing them most all the better.
ReplyDeleteAnd the same time we must continue our efforts to improve traditional public schools.
Meaning no disrespect, Miss Mae, but the spelling and grammatical errors in your post underscore the need for improving our education system by any means necessary.
If you don't live in public housing, I can understand your "ignorant" comments. First of all, a large number of public housing residents are working people who, not only pay their rent but also pay taxes! Secondly, Public Housing is federally controlled. HCZ have other available sites that they could use to built their school. There are underlying reasons why NYCHA is selling this property, and one of them is the mismanagement of money for funding public housing. Residents have a constitutional right to speak up about how they feel.Most oppose the building of this school and rightfully so because they will be the ones affected.
ReplyDeleteMeaning no disrespect,Sanou's Mum, but you really need to 'get a meaningful life' maybe you wouldn't be so bitter and critical of others!